Design: still too early but...

[mattpa]

...Brakes every few years (probably more often than a conventional vehicle due to regenerative braking, but that's just a guess)?...

I would assume LESS often than a conventional, since the generating portion of the braking would be reducing brake pad usage.

In my Fusion Hybrid the regenerative braking is based on pressure applied to the pedal, purely regenerative until x% at which point the mechanical brakes start to help and eventually take over, I'm assuming Tesla uses a similar setup. It gives you a percentage of energy restored every time you come to a stop, and I typically get 90%+. When I checked the brakes at ~90k the pads looked basically new. Unless my local dealership changed my brakes for free at some point in the last 5 years (maybe that's why they just closed... ) they're the pads from the factory. So I would agree that the Tesla truck (and electrics/hybrids in general) will have less brake maintenance than straight ICE vehicles.

TL;DR: drop the "I would assume" from JimmyDean's post.

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[frinesi2]

In my Fusion Hybrid the regenerative braking is based on pressure applied to the pedal, purely regenerative until x% at which point the mechanical brakes start to help and eventually take over, I'm assuming Tesla uses a similar setup. It gives you a percentage of energy restored every time you come to a stop, and I typically get 90%+. When I checked the brakes at ~90k the pads looked basically new. Unless my local dealership changed my brakes for free at some point in the last 5 years (maybe that's why they just closed... ) they're the pads from the factory. So I would agree that the Tesla truck (and electrics/hybrids in general) will have less brake maintenance than straight ICE vehicles.

TL;DR: drop the "I would assume" from JimmyDean's post.

Teslas start regen as you start backing off the gas pedal. The amount of regen is adjustable and it can be fairly strong to the point where you barely need to use the actual brake pedal.

But yeah it's been generally accepted for a while that vehicles with regen braking have less pad wear per mile in typical usage.

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

Teslas start regen as you start backing off the gas pedal. The amount of regen is adjustable and it can be fairly strong to the point where you barely need to use the actual brake pedal. ...

That's the total opposite of what the TFL guys have reported after trying to drive one across the Rockies. They were hoping for what you're describing, but it wasn't observed.

 

[BroncoMike]

TFL guys have reported

.

 

[frinesi2]

That's the total opposite of what the TFL guys have reported after trying to drive one across the Rockies. They were hoping for what you're describing, but it wasn't observed.

Okay?

That's how my coworker's model 3 works so ymmv I guess?

 

[BroncoMike]

Okay?

That's how my coworker's model 3 works so ymmv I guess?

There is a setting in "controls" that lets you change the amount of braking that the right pedal does when you lift. If a previous user mucked with the controls and changed it, the TFL guys would have accidentally come away with an award-winning comedy video trying to find and change it.

Obviously, there was either something wrong or the setting was changed and they were oblivious.

 

[BroncoBuyer]

I would assume LESS often than a conventional, since the generating portion of the braking would be reducing brake pad usage.

this would be correct. Regenerative braking is not wearing on brake pads. It’s reversing polarity to the drive motors to make them do the work long before actual brakes come into play.. it’s kinda like throwing the drive motors in reverse to make the car slow down.

 

[BroncoBuyer]

That's the total opposite of what the TFL guys have reported after trying to drive one across the Rockies. They were hoping for what you're describing, but it wasn't observed.

I can’t imagine the TFL guys being that clueless about how to adjust the setting to personal preference. The regen braking is always on and can be set so strong that the only time you really even need to use brakes is in a panic stop.. Link so I can see what your talking about please?

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

I can’t imagine the TFL guys being that clueless about how to adjust the setting to personal preference. The regen braking is always on and can be set so strong that the only time you really even need to use brakes is in a panic stop.. Link so I can see what your talking about please?

It was one of the takeaways from their failed cross country trip.

 

[BroncoMike]

It was one of the takeaways from their failed cross country trip.

I'm two minutes in to a 30-minute video, and already the sheer stupidity of the premise alone is astounding. Using a Tesla to tow an adventure camper trailer across the country is like using a can opener to shingle a roof. It is entirely the wrong tool for the job. And he spends a great deal of time groaning over the choice that he made to use the wrong tool.

Have they done a video on using a class 3 motor home to take the kids to school every day? Maybe run it on the Nurburgring? Poison Spider? I bet they'd have a lot of issues to moan about for 30 minutes.

Welcome to the early days of motoring, when a driver had to plan out where there was fuel available. I've done some very rural adventure motorcycling, the range anxiety is absolutely no different. And I can't tell you how many towns are listed as having gas, but the station is out of fuel, closed for the day, or closed permanently. A couple times the power was out - not terribly unusual in a rural town - so the pumps didn't work. Ironic that I couldn't get my dinosaur juice because of a power outage. Even today, when gas stations are ubiquitous, people can still be encountered walking beside the road with a gas can.

I like these guys when they do real-world, simple stuff - but they have their limitations. The take-away is, a battery-powered car isn't ready for cross country tripping at the same pace as their dinosaur-powered ancestors, and while a Tesla can tow, it isn't optimal for that task - just as a Ram Rebel isn't optimal for city commuting and parking garages. As far as I can tell, they didn't fail; they quit because they couldn't wait to charge as frequently as the additional load required. Blame Tesla for not having the software calibrated to account for the usage accurately when towing - they could have gone into it knowing how long it would have taken, had the software been accurate - but it looks like they could have actually completed the trip had they waited to charge to maximum and/or applied some energy-conserving techniques. Extremely interesting that their choice of tools when they decided to abandon the Tesla was a half-ton performance pickup truck, not a comparable ICE-powered Model X competitor.

So, 30 minutes of my life... and I completely missed the part where the regen braking isn't working when they let off the go pedal .

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